Buckle-protector.



O. J. LINDERUD.

BUCKLE PROTECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2, 1911.

1,008, 1 65. Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

OLE J. LINDERUD, 0F MCVILLE, NORTH DAKOTA.

BUCKLE-PROTECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 2, 1911.

Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

Serial No. 606,270.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLE J. LINDERUD, citizen of the United States, residing at Mo- Ville, in the county of Nelson and State of North Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buckle-Protectors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to buckles, and refers particularly to an improved guard for attachment to the same.

The invention has for an object to provide a guard or shield for the tongue of the buckle which serves not only to ward off objects from contact with the point of the buckle tongue, but also holds the buckle tongue against the bar of the buckle frame so as to prevent the accidental detachment of the end of the strap which is secured about the tongue.

The invention further aims at the provision of a guard which can be quickly attached over the tongue of the buckle without providing any loops or such device for the reception of the straps which are carried by the buckle, producing a device which is comparatively simple in construction and which can be applied and released quickly from the buckle.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved protector as applied to a buckle; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section through the same, disclosing the protector partly detached; and, Fig. 3 is a similar view disclosing the protector in position.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawing by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawing the numeral 10 designates a buckle frame provided with the end bars 11 and 12 and the central bar 13. The central bar 13, in the usual manner, carries a hinged tongue 14 adapted to swing over and rest upon the bar 11. The fixed strap 15 is attached to the bar 12 while an adjustable strap 16 passes beneath the bar 11 and engages with the tongue 14.

The improved guard or protector comprises a shield frame formed of a pair of bails 17 and 18 of a width corresponding substantially to the space between the side bars of the buckle frame 10 and having open hooks 19 upon their free ends receivingtherein the bars 11 and 12. The bail 17 is adapted for attachment to the bar 11 and is of a width slightly less than the bail 18 which is adapted for attachment to the bar 12. The closed end of the bail 17 is turned up at a slight angle, as at 20, to project up between the side bars of the bail 18. A shield 21 is employed which hingedly connects the bails 17 and 18 and is overturned at its inner end and formed into two laterally elongated loops 22 and 23, as disclosed to advantage in Fig. 1. The inner extremity of the shield 21, against the under side of which is formed the loop 22 receives the closed end of the bail 17 while the adjacent loop 23 which is spaced inwardly a slight distance from the inner end of the shield 21 receives the closed end of the bail 18. The outer end of the shield 21 is curved up to provide a lip 24 and is formed midway of its longitudinal edges and inwardly of the lip 24 with a depression 25 adapted to receive the extremity of the tongue 14 when the shield is in position. The overturned inner end of the shield 21 is held by welding, rivets, or any other suitable fastening means which retain the loops 22 and 23 in shape.

In the application of the protector to the buckle the outer end of the shield 21 is turned down between the arms of the bail 18 so as to distance the inner closed ends of the bails apart. The hooks 19 are now engaged over the bars 11 and 12, the bails extending upwardly over the frame 10. The shield 21 is now raised and turned over against the tongue 14. The loop 23 draws the bail 18 to bind the hooks 19 thereof against the bar 12 while the inner extremity of the shield 21 draws the bail 17 in to bind the hooks 19 thereon upon the bar 11. As the shield 21 is carried over against the tongue 14 the loops 22 and 23 are overturned or interchanged and effect the overlapping of the inner ends of the bails 17 and 18.. As the inner end of the bail 17 is turned up at 20, and as the inner end of the shield is slightly curved to extend up when in position, the closed end of the bail 18 drops below the hinged center of the bail 17, looking the bails together and yieldingly holding the shield 21 against the tongue 14. The lip 24 engages down about the bar 11,

and the depression receives the upper edge of the tongue 14.

From this construction it is observed that the shield acts a lever to contract the bails 17 and 18 upon the frame 10 and that the shield is held over the buckle tongue by the tension of the bails when in position. The protector or guard can be quickly detached from the frame 10 by swinging the shield 21 up to raise the hinged center of the bail 18 above the hinged center of the bail 17 whereby the bails are moved apart to disengage the hooks 19 from the frame 10.

This protector or guard is applied to the buckle without looping any parts of the protector through straps of the buckle and does not interfere in any way with the location or arrangement of the straps through the buckle.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a

buckle protector comprising a shield returned at one end upon itself and formed in the returned portion with two longitudinally spaced laterally elongated loops, said shield being formed at its opposite end with a longitudinally extending tongue-receiving depression, and bails having their cross bars mounted to swing in the respective loops, the bails being formed at their free ends with open hooks, for the purpose specified.

2. In combination with a buckle having end bars, a pair of bails having hooks upon their free ends engaging over the end bars, and a shield pivoted upon the ends of the bails to overlap the same and bind the hooks on the end bars.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OLE J. LINDERUD. [L.S.]

Witnesses CHARLES H. SIMPSON, ALBERT MARN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

